A major police operation could be taking place in Bristol city centre next month with a far-right group planning a protest around the empty plinth of slave trader Edward Colston.
For Britain, an organisation led by Anne Marie Waters, said they would be campaigning against Black Lives Matter at the site of the plinth on Saturday April 9.
Already, a range of anti-racism and anti-fascist groups in Bristol have pledged to stage counter demonstrations at this prospect.
Read more: How Bristol challenged Colston for 100 years
In two posts on For Britain’s website, their founder and leader Anne Marie Waters said she would be present at the rally and make a speech. The posts criticised mainly the activities of the Black Lives Matter movement in the US, but added: “For Britain will also protest against the destruction of monuments and statues of historical figures, and believes those who engage in such activities should face the full extent of the law, regardless of politics.
“With Black Lives Matter, we are witnessing mob rule,” she added. “We must not accept this, and For Britain does not accept this. We invite anyone who can join us on the day.”
For Britain is planning to gather around the Colston plinth at 1pm on Saturday, April 9. A counter demonstration is now being planned, with people asked to gather at the Colston plinth at 11am that day.
Avon and Somerset police said they were aware of the demonstration, and were aiming to allow it to happen, while also ensuring it takes place safely.
“We’re aware of a demonstration due to take place in Bristol city centre on Saturday, 9 April," a spokesperson for Avon and Somerset police said. "We’re in contact with the organisers and our aim is to facilitate the event while also balancing the needs of people who live, work and who are visiting the city.
“Proportionate plans will be in place to monitor the protest and to ensure it takes place safely and with minimal disruption to the wider community," he added.
A range of groups have made the call, and circulated it on social media. “The racist party ‘For Britain’ and Tommy Robinson are coming to Bristol to celebrate the slave trader Colston, in an anti-Black Lives Matter protest. We must oppose this disgusting event,” their call out states.
Earlier this month, Stephen Yaxley-Lennon - better known as Tommy Robinson - joined the For Britain organisation, and posed for a photograph with Anne Marie Waters. It is not clear whether Yaxley-Lennon will be attending the event in Bristol - neither of the organisation’s two posts about it mention that he will.
Anne Marie Waters said: “I will deliver a speech from the plinth on which the statue of Bristol’s most famous son once stood. Help us win back our heritage, and our justice system. (Plus we will have a drink together in a friendly pub afterwards!).”
A crowd as big as 10,000 people attended the Black Lives Matter protest in Bristol in June 2020, and thousands were around the statue of Edward Colston when it was toppled that afternoon. Of those, a total of 18 people were deemed by Avon and Somerset police to have committed a crime after Bristol City Council made a formal complaint statement about the criminal damage to the statue.
Of those 18, a total of ten were identified by police and detained by police in the following weeks. Six accepted a police caution, while four were prosecuted by the Crown Prosecution Service and put on trial in December 2021. In January this year, a jury found them 'not guilty' of criminal damage, after their trial heard the presence of the statue of Edward Colston could be deemed a bigger offence than pulling it over.
The empty plinth remains in The Centre, and a major consultation and survey conducted by the Bristol History Commission, heard from almost 14,000 people - with the vast majority of Bristolians saying they wanted the statue to be put on display in a museum, and not restored back to the plinth.
It will not be the first time Anne Marie Waters, who stood unsuccessfully for the leadership of UKIP in 2017, has been involved in a protest in Bristol. In September 2017 Waters spoke at a rally organised by a host of far-right groups, including one called Gays Against Sharia, which was joined by the South West Infidels and other anti-Islamic organisations.
That day’s protests then saw a major policing operation, and police took the rare step of issuing a special order which banned face coverings, masks, banners and flags ‘that might incite hatred’ ahead of the protest that day. Avon and Somerset police erected a steel fence inside Queen Square and the campaigners had a police escort on a march from Temple Meads to Queen Square. In the event only around 65 people took part.
Around 100 counter-demonstrators were contained by police in Castle Park and said they were ‘kettled’ to prevent them from getting close to the far-right protesters.
A second ‘Gays Against Sharia’ protest took place in April 2018 with a heavy police escort, but with even smaller numbers of people taking part, and Anne Marie Waters did not attend.
Bristol City Council and the Mayor’s Office declined to comment on the potential protest, but Bristol Live understands discussions have already begun with the police about what the response should be and how the day will be policed.
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